William Lunn (July 18, 1796 – June 19, 1886) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

educator, businessman, and politician. Born in Devonport, England, Lunn moved to Canada on assignment with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1824 and remained there for the rest of his life. Lunn served in many civic and business capacities in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, and worked to promote the educational interests of Protestants in Quebec at a time when education in that province was dominated by schools run by the

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Early life

Lunn was born on July 18, 1796, to Elizabeth (née Heard) and William Lunn in Devonport, England. In 1819, he moved to

Kingston, Upper Canada Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toront ...

to manage supplies for the Admiralty. He married Margaret Fisher in 1821. Lunn stayed in Canada after the British decided to end their naval presence at Kingston in 1834. His wedding was noted for being the cause of a charivari that went on for three nights and resulted in the door of a police watch house being destroyed and several people arrested. Lunn was a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

and wrote to Britain in 1824 requesting missionaries, because the Canadian government at the time was not happy with the presence of missionaries from the United States.

Career

Lunn was one of the founders of Montreal General Hospital, and a member of the board of managers at several points between 1824 and 1886. He served on the

Bank of Montreal The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company. The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...

's board of governors from 1829 to 1849. In 1829 he was a member of both the Montreal Library and Montreal Committee of Trade boards of directors. In municipal politics Lunn served as a Justice of the Peace in Montreal from 1826 to 1830. Lunn's most significant impact on

was related to education. Education in Quebec in the early 19th century was dominated by the

. In 1822 Lunn organized the British and Canadian School Society, and served as its treasurer. In 1844 he became one of the founding board members of the High School of Montreal, and in 1864 he served as chair of the Protestant Educational Association, a group that existed to promote the interests of Protestants in Canadian education. Lunn died on June 19, 1886, in Montreal. A school was named in his honour in Montreal, located on Ann Street, between William Street and Ottawa Street. The school closed down in the late 1940s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunn, William 1796 births 1886 deaths Canadian educators Canadian bankers Military personnel from Devonport, Plymouth British emigrants to Canada